5 Things To Consider When Moving Cross Country Or: Wow, SF is Hella Expensive

Kate Walsh.
6 min readFeb 12, 2020

A little over two years ago, I made a decision to leave my 1,000 sq. foot, one-bedroom apartment with a screened-in porch, brand new appliances, in-ground pool, fitness center, and dedicated parking spot to share a two-bedroom apartment with a 40-year old woman that hung 13 eyeball paintings on the wall and told me that she once “accidentally” smoked crack.

That’s how much I wanted to live in SF.

Don’t get me wrong — I knew what I was signing up for (well, okay, not the crack story but everything else). I just needed to be here. When I would have to fly back home to Raleigh, honest to God I felt like crying. And it’s nothing against Raleigh and the people that live there. My parents and their corgi are very happy in N. Carolina. It just wasn’t for me.

So if you’re someone who’s been feeling a bit stuck where you are and want some advice from someone who’s done it before, well, you're lucky that I have just enough of an ego to offer it up unsolicited.

1. Pay For Good Movers

How much do you love that old band t-shirt that you got from your first concert? Or the music box that your grandmother smuggled out of her war-torn country to give to your mother as a wedding present?

Well sorry, nana but the movers lost it. Or broke it. Or held it for ransom.

That’s exactly what will happen if you do what I did, which was cheap out on moving costs because I am stupid. I’m not being hard on myself, I literally Google’d “cheap movers” and as the saying goes, you get what you pay for.

On average, a cross country move with actual reputable movers and not ex-KGB should run you around $2–5K. You’ll need cash to tip and in some cases, to pay half upfront. Keep in mind that some movers will add on charges for things like # flights or steps from the street to your front door.

If they offer insurance, read over the agreement carefully before blindly signing. You may be able to get coverage with your own insurance provider. The bozos I hired offered $.60 per pound for damaged items but guess how much lost items weigh? Correct.

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